Missio Dei

Last update: August 17, 2007 - 7:23 PM

The Missio Dei congregation (www.missio-dei.com) is a textbook example of an emergent church. Its small, multicultural congregation is built on close connections.

"We find different ways of connecting" with people than traditional churches, said Pastor Mark Van Steenwyk. "A couple of times a week, we serve a communal meal. We invite people to form a relationship with us. The whole thing is very conversational."

The church, which counts about 20 regular members, meets in the basement of a cafe in the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis. It also does a lot of volunteer work in the neighborhood, which is heavily populated by immigrants and refugees. "A lot of these people have intense needs," Van Steenwyk said. "It's been an interesting challenge."

JEFF STRICKLER

CROSS-CULTURAL EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH

Every Sunday morning, the members of the Cross-Cultural Evangelical Free Church (www.crossculturalefc.org) take a school cafeteria and convert it to a sanctuary. It's not a ritual; just a challenge faced by many small churches that rent meeting space by the hour.

"We have a lot of faithful members who show up every week to move tables and chairs," said Pastor Michael Rice, whose congregation worships in what normally is the lunchroom of the Hazel Park Middle School Academy in St. Paul.

Because of the group's limited size, all 85 members are expected to contribute to the labor pool. "Everybody is working on some aspect of the service," he said. "Some people set up, and others tear down. Or they teach Sunday school, play music or sing [in the choir]. Everybody gets to do something."